Ronnie Saunders Diners Union To Open In Shoreditch

Those wild girolles.
Rivington Street gets a new, occasional restaurant from Saturday. Ronnie Saunders Diners Union carries the tagline 'good food shouldn't be exclusive'. Judging by a sample menu, it sounds like the place will live up to the claim by charging just £15 for a five-course meal that includes oysters, wild girolles (fancy mushrooms), artfully decorated beef and a Victoria sponge. It's all locally sourced and brought together by michelin-trained chefs (including co-founder and Head Chef Rolan Dack).

The pop-up is currently being built in the yard behind the old Foundry Building. Seating for 100 is at long tables to encourage the bonhomie. The restaurant opens every Friday and Saturday until the end of the year, and carries a different theme each week. This Saturday, already fully booked, the menu has a Victorian London slant (hence the sponge), next week, we're talking French Revolution. Everyone pays the same, everyone gets the same.

In case you're wondering about the name, Ronnie Saunders was Rolan's grandfather, "a man’s man and a ladies man, a champion of equality and a proper London character". Inspired by Ronnie's values, the venture will be working with St Mungo's to train homeless Londoners in kitchen and business skills.